Prior to the discovery that exposure to asbestos, or more particularly, to asbestos fibers or dust, can create significant health hazards, it was common to insulate conduits and other heat transmitting or absorbing structures with asbestos by applying the asbestos to the structures. This was particularly true for overhead structures located adjacent the ceilings of buildings. As a consequence, many older buildings in which asbestos insulation has been used have now been become health hazardous and removal of the asbestos is often required.
Because of the inherent dangers of asbestos exposure, federal and state legislation has been passed which requires extraordinary protection for workers engaged in removal of asbestos containing materials as well as stringent requirements guarding against contamination of buildings in which asbestos is being removed. The interiors of such buildings, for example, are generally completely covered with plastic sheeting prior to the removal process to prevent contact between the building interior surfaces and the removed asbestos. The workers are also required to wear protective gear.
When removing asbestos from overhead structures adjacent the building ceiling, it is common for a worker to erect a scaffold within the building with the scaffold supporting a platform on which the worker can stand as he scrapes and hoses asbestos from the structures. A problem particularly associated with removal of asbestos from overhead structures in this manner is that as the asbestos is removed it tends to fall in pieces and chunks onto the platform and to the floor of the building with the impact of the fall breaking the asbestos into smaller pieces and generating asbestos fibers that become suspended in the air. These small pieces and fibers, in turn, create increased health hazards for workers and other people who may be in the building. Further, clean-up and disposal of asbestos that has fallen to the floor can be a time consuming task that sometimes generates even more suspended asbestos fibers and asbestos particles.
There remains, therefore, a need for a method and apparatus of containing and disposing of asbestos pieces as they are removed from overhead structures within buildings. It is to the provision of such a method and apparatus, therefore, that the present invention is primarly directed.